Since starting this blog, I am still concerned at the lip service paid by police forces regarding the treatment of officers with mental health issues.

I have been supporting police officers as a member of the Independent Police Support Group which I founded in 2004.

Having just got off the phone to another serving officer in difficulty, nothing has really changed, diagnosed with PTSD, not knowing how to deal with this, the Met Police are seeking to get rid of an officer with nearly 30 years service via the discipline route.

The conduct of the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) does not appear to have changed despite raising representations previously concerning the suicide of a Metropolitan Police Officer which were also echoed by the Coronor where recommendations were made.

When things go wrong, the same disingenuous phrase is repeated time and again that lessons will be learned, in reality they never are and the same conduct is repeated.

I no longer use the term ‘mistake’ because you can only make a mistake so many times before it becomes apparent that it is not a mistake and that the conduct is calculated to achieve a specific aim.

Like many other officers who have gone down this lonely road, I have experienced each escalating step of “Shooting the messenger” which has proved to be the standard defensive response adopted by police forces who have decide to break the blue code of silence and do the “right thing” ultimately for the benefit of the citizens they have sworn to protect.

The mental health bandwagon seems to be another bandwagon the police have jumped on whilst deceiving both the public and serving police officers that if you blow the whistle we will do our utmost to exacerbate any mental health condition that you may now have until we are able to remove you from the force one way or another.

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Some how, this has got to be challenged. This is outrageous and I am seriously concerned that suicides will become more common place. How the hell do we hold Chief Constables to account? This attitude has grown into an epidemic disease that I couldn’t have anticipated in a zillion years. Who ever is at the centre of this policy should be ashamed of themselves. I’d rather clean toilets with my tongue for a living than play any part in putting the lives of a ‘near to end of service’ at risk. They will end up with blood on their hands. My husband barely made it across the finishing line after a highly active service. The support for him was bad but at least this policy wasn’t in existence. SHAMEFUL.